Opportunities to Improve the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment Program (2002) / Chapter Skim
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7 Cooperation and Coordination Issues
7 Cooperation and Coordination Issues
Pages 182-202
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From page 182... ...
In the committee' s view, NAWQA program staff have done an excellent job of establishing cooperative relationships within USGS and with external programs. These efforts have strengthened NAWQA and have improved the visibility and viability of the USGS as a whole.
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From page 183... ...
Continued flat budgets or budget cuts will not allow NAWQA to meet its goals or to provide the information that Congress and other agencies desire without continued design changes and cutbacks. The significant scaling back of study units in Cycle II discussed in Chapter 2 is but one example.
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From page 184... ...
In this regard, every water body and watershed within the United States has some sort of local constituency that should be included in the design, planning, and execution of such studies. The study unit liaison committees are able to make valuable contributions to NAWQA, assisting with local coordination, providing local knowledge and insight of water resources problems, and bringing other expertise into the design and review process.
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From page 185... ...
NAWQA should also consider providing training as well as further information sharing ("lessons learned") for study unit teams to make the local liaison efforts more beneficial for USGS and local users.
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From page 186... ...
Also, the planning cycles and budget decisions are sometimes not in phase, creating many uncertainties and anxieties. A second concern is that the districtlevel staff fully appreciate the national goals of NAWQA, and likewise that NAWQA study unit personnel listen to design and implementation concerns from the local expertise.
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From page 187... ...
Also, with an increased emphasis on studies concerning the understanding goal in Cycle II, expanded interaction and involvement with states and universities may also prove beneficial. These collaborative activities may be facilitated by furthering the existing relationship among NAWQA and various state Water Resources Research Institutes.
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From page 188... ...
The current objectives of NASQAN are to characterize the concentrations and flux of sediment and chemicals in the nation's largest river basins, to determine regional source areas for these materials, and to assess the effect of human influences on observed concentrations and flux (Hooper et al., 1996~. NASQAN complements NAWQA by adding consistent measurements of concentrations and transport of constituents on the main stem of large rivers downstream of NAWQA study units.
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From page 189... ...
Coordination to Identify Emerging Contaminants The USGS and NAWQA, in particular through staff liaisons, have worked with EPA to identify emerging contaminants that warrant consideration for regulation or monitoring to protect public health and maintain water quality. In this regard, EPA has found NAWQA data to be very useful for considering whether chemical contaminants included on the 1998 CCL represent a significant potential threat to drinking water supplies (e.g., EPA, 2001~.
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From page 190... ...
These data have played an important role in EPA's and several states' deciding to take a thorough review of MTBE' s impact on drinking water supplies and public heath. Furthermore, EPA and USGS have recently entered into a jointly funded program to conduct more detailed monitoring for MTBE in some critical states where it is suspected to be a greater problem (USGS, 2001~.
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From page 191... ...
Source Water Assessment Programs Several states have collaborated with USGS district office and/or NAWQA personnel to assess the vulnerability of their drinking water sources and public drinking water supply systems as required by Sections 1428 and 1453 of the SDWA Amendments of 1996 (see Box 7-2~. More specifically, the amended SDWA requires states to develop, submit to EPA, and after approval, implement Source Water Assessment Programs (SWAPs)
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From page 196... ...
Other states are joining in further collaborative efforts on formal source water assessments through NAWQA, district programs, and the USGS Drinking Water Initiative (USGS, 2001) Water Quality Assessments and TMDLs One of the current strategies devised by the EPA for meeting surface water quality standards involves the application of a total maximum daily load (TMDL)
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From page 197... ...
If a NAWQA study unit coincides with a TMDL watershed, the NAWQA data are likely to be of value for the original assessment and development of the TMDL, particularly if the TMDL contaminant and the water quality standard reflect variables that are being actively measured as part of the NAWQA pro
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From page 198... ...
USGS staff are providing EPA important scientific perspective, for example, in technical approaches to water quality assessments, development of regional nutrient criteria, and the identification of emerging contaminants. This has provided important technical expertise to EPA but has also provided USGS with important perspectives on EPA's information needs.
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From page 199... ...
Continued flat budgets and budget cuts will not allow NAWQA to meet its goals or to provide the results that Congress and other agencies desire without continued design changes and cutbacks. Further, NAWQA cannot become dependent on other cooperative agencies for operational budget support.
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From page 200... ...
· The local study unit and national liaison committees should be continued in Cycle II. NAWQA should consider providing training as well as further information sharing ("lessons learned")
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From page 201... ...
Sacramento, Calif.: California Department of Water Resources. Domagalski, J
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From page 202... ...
1999. Emerging drinking water contaminants: Overview and role of the National Water Quality Assessment Program.
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